Cabinet cover of home appliance

ABSTRACT

A cabinet cover of a home appliance is provided, which enables a secure installation of an aesthetic member in an installation hole of a cabinet cover body having an aesthetically pleasing external appearance, i.e., without welding marks being visible for the exterior of the apparatus, and which achieves an improved mechanical coupling between the cabinet cover and the aesthetic member. The cabinet cover includes a cabinet cover body having an installation hole at a predetermined location for receiving at rear side of the installation hole a control panel for controlling the home appliance; and an aesthetic member, attached at a perimeter of the aesthetic member, to the rear side of the cabinet cover body, for closing the installation hole, wherein the aesthetic member is attached by an adhesive agent and wherein the perimeter of the aesthetic member is welded to the rear side of the cabinet cover body.

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No.10-2002-0074967 filed on Nov. 29, 2002, which is hereby incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a cabinet cover of a homeappliance such as a washing machine, and more particularly, to amechanical coupling between a cabinet cover of a home appliance and anaesthetic member for installing a control panel in an installation holeof the cabinet cover.

[0004] 2. Discussion of the Related Art

[0005] Major home appliances such as washing machines, driers, anddishwashers require a means for the user to control the apparatus.Typically, such control is accessible from the exterior of theapparatus, which may necessitate the formation of an installation hole(aperture) in a cabinet cover, where a control panel is provided fromthe rear side of the cabinet cover. Meanwhile, a home appliance shouldbe aesthetically appealing.

[0006]FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a typical washing machine, i.e., a homeappliance, provided with a cabinet cover according to a related art.

[0007] Referring to FIGS. 1-4, a tub 4 and a drum 6 are installed in acabinet 2 having a front side provided with an opening (entrance) forreceiving laundry to be washed. A cabinet cover 10 having an entrance 10h is installed on the front side of the cabinet 2, and a door 22 isinstalled in the entrance. A motor 8 for rotating the drum 6 is mountedbehind the tub 4 and coupled to the drum. A detergent box 24 for storinga detergent therein is detachably installed at one side of the cabinetcover 10, and a control panel 26 is installed in the other side of thecabinet cover. The cabinet cover 10 consists essentially of a cabinetcover body 12 and an aesthetic member 14.

[0008] The control panel 26 includes a display 26 b for displaying anoperational state of a washing machine or similar apparatus and aplurality of manual controls 26 a for controlling an operation of theapparatus. Meanwhile, the cabinet cover body 12 is provided with aninstallation hole 12 a having a predetermined dimension for receivingthe control panel 26. The aesthetic member 14 is provided with a manualcontrol interface means 26 a□ (push-button caps) corresponding to themanual controls 26 a and a viewing means 26 b□(a window) correspondingto the display 26 b. The aesthetic member 14 is attached to the innerside of the perimeter of the installation hole 12 a.

[0009] To form the aesthetic member 14, a metal plate (not shown) isfirst cut according to a predetermined pattern so that the installationhole 12 a may receive and be wholly closed by the aesthetic member. Inattaching the aesthetic member 14 to the cabinet cover body 12, theaesthetic member is positioned with respect to the installation hole 12a, and spot-welding is carried out at predetermined sites around thefront side of the installation hole and around the rear side of theaesthetic member. As a result, a series of welding marks C are created,but since the welding provides insufficient adhesion, an adhesive agentB is also applied to the perimeter of the aesthetic member 14 from therear side of the cabinet cover body 12.

[0010] The cabinet cover of the related art as described above, however,has an unappealing exterior due to the presence of the welding marks C.In addition, even though the adhesive agent B is used to complete theadhesion, the adhesive strength is weak since the aesthetic member 14 isspot-welded to the cabinet cover body 12 prior to applying the adhesive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a cabinet coverof a home appliance that substantially obviates one or more of theproblems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

[0012] An object of the present invention, which has been devised tosolve the foregoing problem, lies in providing a cabinet cover of a homeappliance, which enables a secure installation of an aesthetic member inan installation hole of a cabinet cover body having an aestheticallypleasing external appearance.

[0013] It is another object of the present invention to provide acabinet cover of a home appliance, which achieves a mechanical couplingbetween a cabinet cover of a home appliance and an aesthetic member,without welding marks being visible for the exterior of the apparatus.

[0014] It is another object of the present invention to provide acabinet cover of a home appliance, which achieves an improved mechanicalcoupling between a cabinet cover of a home appliance and an aestheticmember.

[0015] Additional features and advantages of the invention will be setforth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent tothose having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the followingor may be learned from a practice of the invention. The objectives andother advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by thesubject matter particularly pointed out in the specification and claimshereof as well as in the appended drawings.

[0016] To achieve these objects and other advantages in accordance withthe present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, thereis provided a cabinet cover of a home appliance. The cabinet comprises acabinet cover body having an installation hole at a predeterminedlocation for receiving at rear side of the installation hole a controlpanel for controlling the home appliance; and an aesthetic member,attached at a perimeter of the aesthetic member, to the rear side of thecabinet cover body, for closing the installation hole, wherein theaesthetic member is attached by an adhesive agent and wherein theperimeter of the aesthetic member is welded to the rear side of thecabinet cover body.

[0017] It is to be understood that both the foregoing explanation andthe following detailed description of the present invention areexemplary and illustrative and are intended to provide furtherexplanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide afurther understanding of the invention and are incorporated in andconstitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of theinvention and together with the description serve to explain theprinciple of the invention. In the drawings:

[0019]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a general drum-type washingmachine;

[0020]FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the washing machine of FIG. 1;

[0021]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a cabinet coverof the washing machine of FIG. 1;

[0022]FIG. 4 is a rear view of the cabinet cover as shown in FIG. 3;

[0023]FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a cabinet coverof a drum-type washing machine according to the present invention; and

[0024]FIG. 6 is a rear view of the cabinet cover as shown in FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0025] Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodimentof the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. Throughout the drawings, like elements areindicated using the same or similar reference designations wherepossible.

[0026] Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, illustrating a cabinet cover of ahome appliance according to the present invention, a cabinet cover body52, having an installation hole 52 a, is attached to a side of a cabinet(not shown). The installation hole 52 a is provided in a predeterminedlocation of the cabinet cover body 52, to mount a control panel 66provided with a plurality of controls 66 a for controlling an operationof the apparatus and a display 66 b to display an operational statethereof. The control panel 66 is fixed to the rear side of an aestheticmember 54.

[0027] The aesthetic member 54 is attached to an inner side of theinstallation hole 52 a, so as to cover the installation hole 52 a, usingan adhesive agent B applied to an edge of the aesthetic member. Theaesthetic member 54 is welded to the inner perimeter of the installationhole 52 a from the rear side of the cover body 52. The aesthetic member54 is formed having a plurality of predetermined holes 54 hcorresponding to the controls 66 a and display 66 b, for respectivelyreceiving a manual control interface means 66 a□ and a viewing means 66b□ In the cabinet cover 50, the aesthetic member 54 is attached to theinner side of the installation hole 52 a of the cabinet cover body 52,and the cabinet cover body 52 is loaded onto a side of the cabinet of ahome appliance. Thus, in the cabinet cover body 52, the installationhole 52 a is formed to have a predetermined dimension for receiving thecontrol panel 66, and to provide a sufficient adhesion margin, theaesthetic member 54 is larger than that of the installation hole 52 a.

[0028] The cabinet cover body 52 and aesthetic member 54 are preferablymade of a stainless steel based material to provide an elegant designand are preferably cut to size by a laser cutting device to provide agood finish to their exterior. In preparing the cabinet cover accordingto the present invention, a stainless steel plate is cut to form thecabinet cover body 52 and the aesthetic member 54, respectively. Theinstallation hole 52 a is formed in the cabinet cover body 52, the holes54 h are formed in the aesthetic member 54.

[0029] Subsequently, the adhesive agent B is applied to the front sideedge of the aesthetic member 54, covering an area overlapping theperimeter of the installation hole 52 a. The front side edge of theaesthetic member 54 is attached to the inner side of the installationhole 52 a. Then, the rear side edge of the aesthetic member 54 isspot-welded to the inner side 52 a of the installation hole 52 a. Thus,the aesthetic member 54 provides the edge on which the adhesive agent iscoated with a sufficient width, and its rear side edge is spot-welded toprovide plenty of welding points. Hence, the exterior of the apparatusis free from welding marks C, while increasing adhesion strength.

[0030] Finally, the manual control interface means 66 a′ and viewingmeans 66 b′ are loaded in their corresponding holes 54 h, and thecontrol panel 66 is fixed to the rear side of the aesthetic member 54.

[0031] Accordingly, in a cabinet cover of a home appliance according tothe present invention, after the edge of the aesthetic member has beenattached to the inner side of the installation hole of the cabinet coverbody, welding is performed on the rear side of the aesthetic member sothat there is no external mark of such attachment, thereby enabling anaesthetically pleasing external appearance due to the absence of weldingmarks visible for the exterior of the apparatus. In addition, animproved mechanical coupling between the cabinet cover and aestheticmember is achieved.

[0032] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made in the present inventionwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it isintended that the present invention cover such modifications andvariations, provided they come within the scope of the appended claimsand their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cabinet cover of a home appliance, comprising:a cabinet cover body having an installation hole at a predeterminedlocation for receiving at rear side of the installation hole a controlpanel for controlling the home appliance; and an aesthetic member,attached at a perimeter of said aesthetic member, to the rear side ofsaid cabinet cover body, for closing the installation hole, wherein saidaesthetic member is attached by an adhesive agent and wherein theperimeter of said aesthetic member is welded to the rear side of saidcabinet cover body.
 2. The cabinet cover as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid aesthetic member is larger than the installation hole.
 3. Thecabinet cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cabinet cover body andsaid aesthetic member are made of a stainless steel based material. 4.The cabinet cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cabinet cover bodyand said aesthetic member are formed using a laser cutting device. 5.The cabinet cover as claimed in claim 1, wherein said aesthetic memberis provided with a plurality of holes for receiving the control panel.